South Africa’s ‘wild west’ WhatsApp groups fuel racism, surveillance

From Johannesburg to Durban, community WhatsApp groups have thrived during the pandemic, but they can feed paranoia, racial profiling and vigilante surveillance, researchers say. — Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

DURBAN: When South African content manager Happiness Kisten chased her family’s escaped puppy up the road in the early hours of the morning in her Durban suburb, she did not realise she was being watched.

But when Kisten, a Black South African adopted by white parents, arrived home puppy in tow, her mother showed her a message on the neighbourhood WhatsApp group that warned residents about a Black woman seen running after a dog.